Polishing Lathe

[mclarendude]

Hey gang:

Been wanting to venture into refinishing my own bracelets/cases because might as well.

Any recommendations for an affordable beginners lathe and compounds?

Thanks.


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[bc1221]

Harbor freight has a bench grinder with a polishing wheel and some cheap composed for less than $50 last time I was there. I just don’t have anywhere to put it but it’s fairly small. Prob about a foot wide.

Hell, here’s one for $30 bucks and comes with a cotton polishing wheel.
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-mini-tool-grinder-polisher-94071.html

You just need to buy a finer polishing wheel and some good compounds.

I just use my polishing drill bit, clamp it down to a bench and use it that way when polishing a case. Then I use my dremel for smaller work.

You can get great results from just using very fine sandpaper as well. I use something called finish sand paper. The finest one feels like paper but it damn sure polishes it. It’s just very time consuming but for work like polishing the chamfered edges, it comes in handy. I just wrap it around flat sanding pad and keep it at a 45 degree angle.






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[Perpetual]

Hey gang:

Been wanting to venture into refinishing my own bracelets/cases because might as well.

Any recommendations for an affordable beginners lathe and compounds?

Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would shop around for a bench grinder that had a speed setting because "specifically for brushing " requires a slower speed, rather then polishing that requires high speed. Just my 2€

 

[oldtools]

I have something similar to this polisher and have had good results with it. In addition to the cotton polishing wheels, I would get some non woven abrasive wheels. They work great on oyster bracelets.

https://www.prolinemax.com/Dual-4-1...Buffing-Bench-Top-Machine-Jeweler-_p_675.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/non-woven-abrasive-flap-wheel-for_757186078.html

 

[oldtools]

Oops, I just looked at the non woven wheels again. Good price, but bad minimum quantity. Here's a different link:

https://www.uptowntools.com/collect...ts/copy-of-satin-finish-buff-fine-4-1-4-x-3-4

This is the place where I bought my wheels. I'm pretty sure they were under $10. I can't seem to find them in their website.

http://lonniesinc.com/index.htm

 

[beau7816]

I used to use a Dremel which is very good and have since purchased a Jooltool which is excellent. I use a test case and scratch it up to practice polishing skills. Now can comfortably say my polishing and brushing skills match new watches.

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[p0pperini]

I got one from Amazon - I specifically searched for one that had a variable speed function, because it seemed pretty clear that controlling the speed would be useful.

It's small but has enough power to polish and buff watch surfaces just fine. I wouldn't expect it to handle anything more demanding though.

 

[beau7816]

The zJooltool has removed so e quite deep scratches. However you also risk altering the dimensions of the case when using abrasive pads before polishing. There are plenty of vids on YouTube, just type in Jooltool.

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[p0pperini]

The Jooltool looks a nice bit of kit - being by 3M I guess you’d expect it. But damn it’s expensive!